It was ironic that Tuesday evening, May 21, when the Wake Forest Town Board was confirming its adherence to Title VI, a national nondiscrimination law, speakers during the public comment section of the meeting were urging the commissioners to cancel the first Pride Fest in town.
Of the six speakers against the Pride Fest scheduled for October 5 on two downtown streets, at least three were from Youngsville with the others from Wake Forest. Their objections were based on the Bible and called the festival, which bills itself as “kid friendly,” as showing “the depths of depravity.” They were Jonathan Clayton, Josh Keith, Weston Keith, Will Arterburn, Christopher Rogers and Adam Short.
“Because of certain funds we receive from the State, we have to meet certain Title VI requirements and include them in our contracts. This update is a requirement also,” Wake Forest Town Attorney Hassan Kingsberry wrote in an email.
Those last six speakers were also in sharp contrast to the first three, who all urged American help for the Israeli Palestinians who are unable to escape Gaza. There was a short video in which an American doctor spoke of the horrific injuries he has seen in and on children’s bodies due to bomb blasts.
Those speakers were Maysa Saoutari, Mark Elbourno and Hala Asfari.
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13 Responses
Hello, I am one of the people who spoke against the Pride festival. My position was not represented in this article. I presented a political argument against the festival. I believe that we need town employees only acting off the clock and not in any official capacity or uniform at any event not organized by our town. I also believe that we must enforce any laws concerning public indecency and destruction of property equally for all community events, including the pride festival. That is what I said, and this was not represented in this article.
All your points are good and applicable for all community events, but I’m not sure why you are using it as an argument against the Pride festival specifically.
-Commissioner Wright addressed the concern that all police have to be hired off duty, and all payed for by the event organizer. This is the same for 5Ks, other festivals, etc. and for this pride event. Nothing different.
-The event description is “live music, food trucks, kids zone, and vendors.” Not sure what about that allows you to confidently propose that public indecency and destruction of public property will occur in this event, to the extent of trying to cancel the event.
Unless you are speaking up at BOC meetings to bring up all these points for every planned community event, one might assume you are targeting the Pride festival for some other reasons, other than seemingly innocuous “political” reasons.
Thank you for your reply. Commissioner Wright addressed my questions after my address, and I am thankful the clarification on a few of them. As far as my words on laws concerning public indecency and destruction of property are concerned, I merely meant that if any violations of these laws occur that the laws should be enforced at the pride festival like they would at any other event. I was not directly targeting the pride festival, merely stating that these laws must be equally enforced at all times. Again, my arguments are political and not religious.
You claim not to target the Pride festival, yet you signed up to “speak against the Pride festival” and presented a “political argument” aimed at it. It’s a bit disingenuous to assert you’re merely advocating for all events while actively working to convince the board to cancel this particular one using these ‘arguments.’ Why not petition against the Cars and Carnivores event over similar concerns about public indecency and property destruction? Even if we assume no religious bias, this approach appears more like fearmongering than a balanced argument for equitable event policies.
He was the first speaker. He never advocated for canceling the event. It is likely he never took a look at what the guidelines were for a community event before now due to the fact an event never raised concerns for him in the past. He isn’t alone. I received several phone calls & messages from residents & stakeholders who had concerns over the event. I will never demonize someone for asking questions or asking their concerns to be addressed. I did not voice opposition for the development of Rosedale or Kinsley but I spoke out about Star Road. Does that mean I targeted the developer of Star Road? Of course not. It means I was paying attention during the star road rezoning. It’s likely he heard about the Pride festival but not the cars for carnivores. I’ve seen the Pride festival advertised more places.
Religious freedom is best described as freedom from religion, with separation of church and state. The US Constitution provides that inclusive guarantee of freedom and equality to all our citizens bill of rights in the 1st Amendment.
I was glad that two people spoke asked the Board to cut the proposed budget. There were years that no one would ask the Board to do that. Some years it was just me. I have a proposal for some cuts.
I do not know why we have solar powered garbage cans and those license plate cameras as a starter. I do not know why they now separately bill solid waste. I was ok with the 2009 tax increase to pay for it. No billing costs. I might be labeled for questioning the amount of Police Officers we have, but I am. Do we really need K 9 units and maintaining those tanks. Our Communication Budget is about 1/3 of Raleigh’s; we have 10 percent of their population.
I find it quite curious that most of the folks speaking to have the town take a position on the Cease Fire in Gaza were not Wake Forest Residents. Those folks have issues with the Federal Government giving money to Israel should contact our Federal Representatives.
From what I understand the teen problem at FNOW has been going on longer than last year. I agree with Commissioner Wright about businesses closing during FNOW. I was hoping that someone else would support his 7 pm limit. Admittedly FNOW is not my scene. I’d rather be at Bud’s in Y Ville if I’m gonna drink and listen to music.
If you like that so much why don’t you go live over there
Kudos to those protesting this perversion and cat calls to Kingsbury and the commissioners. Don’t take the money and you don’t have to follow the plan. Grow a spine.
Shut up Richard
A good call Richard. Thanks for pointing out the common sense that if you don’t take the money you don’t have to play the game.
In sharp contrast? You do know that in Gaza the locals routinely kill homosexuals. That’s a far cry from denouncing their “celebration.”
Thanks Alice for pointing out what the media and certain politicians ignore. Yep…homosexual are regulary killed in many Middle East countries. If the public only knew the truth like you do.